AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: YANKEES VS ASTROS

October 22, 2022

Dusty Baker

Yankee Stadium

Houston Astros

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Houston Astros - 5, New York Yankees - 0

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Dusty.

Q. What did you think of Javier tonight and just what he's been able to do consistently two times now?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, he was very good tonight. He didn't start off, he started off a little rocky, and then he went to the stretch. When he was in the windup he couldn't find his rhythm, and then he went to the stretch on his own, and then he was more compact and was getting the ball down, because early in the game he was wild high. He got out of some trouble and then after that he settled down.

Q. Could you tell me, could you talk about the great game Christian Vázquez had behind the plate and with the bat?

DUSTY BAKER: Oh, yeah, he had an outstanding game. He called a good game, a great game. He threw out Bader at a key time in the game when they were trying to get something going, and then he got two RBIs for us. So it's great to have two outstanding catchers. He had a very good game for us tonight.

Q. Are you surprised at how dominant you've been in this series and to be up 3-0?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, I don't know if dominant's the word. I mean, all of 'em are close except tonight. So I don't think about being dominant. I just think about just scoring one more run than they score and winning the ball game.

They're always dangerous. The Yankees are always dangerous, especially here in New York, so we got an opportunity to close it out and win tomorrow, so we're going to take every opportunity to try to do that.

Q. What was your thinking for letting Brown face Rizzo?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, my thinking was, you know, we don't a lefty, and Brown's been pretty good against lefties. And the score was indicative that if he did do something we were still ahead and had the lead. We were really trying to stay away from Pressly. We've been riding Montero kind of hard. That's why we let him face him.

So also thinking about the fact that you could possibly have five days in a row, and then we would be upside down in a couple days. So sometimes you take a chance and sometimes he comes through.

Q. How do you think Altuve looked? Was it a good sign going the other way?

DUSTY BAKER: Yeah, it was a great sign. From talking to the great Tommy Davis, who is a close friend of mine and my hero, he would always tell me, if you're having trouble, go back to the opposite field and then march your way back to the full side.

So that was a great sign, for him to get a knock, and when you get a hit when you're 0 for something, any knock is great.

Q. You guys have really specialized on capitalizing on other teams' mistakes. That play out in center field, the very next at-bat you hit the homer. Just how much has capitalizing on mistakes been part of what you guys have been able to do?

DUSTY BAKER: Well, that's what the game's about. You can't always capitalize on it. I mean, you try to -- it's a thought process, number one, and then you take a walk or an error or whatever it is, that's a break. Even though it may not be, you have to kind of fool yourself that it is a break.

And it's amazing whatever you think can happen usually does happen. That was huge. That was a huge part of the ball game, especially because Cole was kind of knifing through us at that time, and we know he's a tough pitcher, one of the best in this game.

Q. How is McCullers feeling about pitching tomorrow night?

DUSTY BAKER: He's feeling great. Last year at this time we didn't have McCullers in the World Series, or after this. He's just happy to be back. We're happy to have him because we felt that we might have had a different outcome had we had McCullers last year. So we're very happy to have him.